INDUSTRY “

7777 Fay AvenueLa Jolla, CA 92037

Tel: +1.858.320.0387Fax: +1.858.320.0338

www.madcapsoftware.cominfo@madcapsoftware.com

Solutions:

• MadCapFlarenativeXMLtoolfortopic-basedauthoringandsingle-sourcepublishing

Goals:

• Enableeasycustomizationofdocuments

• StreamlinethedeliveryofonlineHelpandprintdocumentation

• AllowspecificationwritingandsoftwaredevelopmentteamstocontributecontentinMicrosoft®Word™

• Supportfuturedevelopments,suchasmobileHelpsystems

• Software

• Construction

Using Flare was the difference between riding a skateboard versus driving a Ferrari.”

GregoryOwens| Senior QA Engineer, ARCOM

Benefits:

• Flare’sabilitytoimportWordletsARCOMspecificationwritingandsoftwaredevelopmentteamscontributecontentusingafamiliarapplication

• Single-sourcingallowsvariousHelpversionsandproductguidestobepublishedfromthesameFlareproject

• Separationofstylefromcontentmakesiteasytoadjustformattingwithoutaffectingtext

• NativemobilepublishinginFlareenabledrapiddeliveryofaprototypemobileHelpsystem

ARCOMUsesMadCapFlaretoStreamlineDeliveryofPrintDocumentationandOnlineHelpforConstructionSpecificationsSoftware

ARCOMSalt Lake City, Utah http://www.arcomnet.com

ARCOMisdedicatedtohelpingdesignandbuildingprofessionalseasilyproducethemostaccuratespecificationsintheconstructionindustry.Since1995,thathasmeantwearingtwohats.

OntheonehandARCOMpublishesMasterSpec®,theindustry’spreeminentmasterguidespecificationsystem,onbehalfofTheAmericanInstituteofArchitects(AIA).Ontheother,itdeliverstheSpecWare®familyofsoftwaretoolsfortakingadvantageofMasterSpecbyautomatingconstructionspecificationdevelopmentandediting.

Today,ARCOMreliesonthesingle-sourcepublishingcapabilitiesofMadCapFlaretodeliverbothprintdocumentationandonlineHelpforitsSpecWaresoftwaretoolsfromthesamesourcecontent.

Company at a Crossroads

Foryears,ARCOMusedAdobe®RoboHelp®tohelpdevelopitsprintdocumentationandonlineHelp.Howeverwhenitwastimetoupgradetoanewerversionofthesoftware,thecompanydecidedtoexploreothersolutionsinthemarket.

“Wewereatacrossroads,”recalledGregoryOwens,ARCOMseniorqualityassuranceengineer.“Dowewanttocontinuewithwhatwehadorusesomethingnew?”

Thecompany’ssearchledtoMadCapFlare,whichofferedthesingle-sourcingthatthetechnicalcommunicationsteamsoughttostreamlineitsefforts.FlarealsoenabledMicrosoft®Word™documentstobeeasilyimported,allowingARCOMspecificationwritingandsoftwaredevelopmentteamstocontributecontentusingfamiliarsoftware.

Mostimportantly,Gregoryobserved,“WetriedFlareoutforatrialperiod,andwithinthattrialperiodwewereabletodoeverythingthatwewantedtodoandthensome.”Headded,“RoboHelpwasnice,butusingFlarewasthedifferencebetweenridingaskateboardversusdrivingaFerrari.”

Streamlining Content Creation

OneofARCOM’sSpecWaretoolsbuildsonMicrosoft®Word™andaddscapabilities—thinkmacrosonsteroids—thatenable

ARCOM Uses MadCap Flare to Streamline Delivery of Print Documentation and Online Help for Construction Specifications Software

“Within the trial period, we were able to do everything that we wanted to do with Flare and then some.”

GregoryOwens|Senior QA Engineer, ARCOM

ARCOM’s WebHelp Search Screen

ARCOM’s Upcoming Mobile WebHelp

ARCOM’s WebHelp Indexing Screen

ARCOM’scustomerstomanipulatethespecificationstheyneedfortheirconstructionprojects.UsingFlare,thecompanycantakeinputfrommultiplesourcesandimportitintoFlarealmostseamlesslyandwithverylittlemanipulationinordertoproducedocumentationforendusers.

“Whenit’stimeforourspecificationwritinganddevelopmentteamstodevelopdocumentationoronlineHelp,Icangivethematemplatefortheheading,paragraphsandoutline.Then,oncethey’refinished,IuseFlaretoimportthecontentandreviewit,”Gregoryexplains.“IalsohavetheoptiontoletthemmanagetheWord™document.Then,iftheyaddchanges,Icanre-importthemwithoutmuchinvolvement.”

LooksareimportantaswellforARCOMmanagement.Reviewersnotonlylookatthecontent,theyalsoreviewdocumentationandonlineHelptoensureusabilityandbrandconsistency.

“Thewaythingslookisveryimportanttoourbrandandhowwepresentdocumentation,”notesGregory.“OneofthebeautifulthingsaboutFlareishowitseparatesstylefromcontent,soit’sasnaptofixtheformattingwithoutaffectingthetext.”

Taking Targets to the Next Level

“IwasabletoquicklycreateamobileversionofouronlineHelpandshowittooursoftwaredevelopmentdirector,”Gregoryrecalls.“WhenheaskedhowIdidit,Ireplied,‘Flare.’NowitisjustamatterofcreatingmobileskinsthatmatchthelookofourWeb-basedHelp.”

Gregoryadds,“Attheheartofit,ourcustomersrelyonustoprovidethetoolsandaccurateinformationtheyneedfortheirconstructionprojectstosucceed.WithFlare,creatingthecontenttohelpthemgetthemostoutofthesetoolsiseasierthanever.”

“One of the beautiful things about Flare is how it separates style from content, so it’s a snap to fix the formatting without affecting the text.”

GregoryOwens| Senior QA Engineer, ARCOM

ARCOMcurrentlytakesadvantageofsingle-sourcingtopublishthecontentinFlareasprintdocumentationdeliveredasdown-loadablePDFsandasWeb-basedHelp.Choosingthedifferentoutputsissimplyamatterofsettingupdifferenttargets.

Lookingahead,thecompanyalsoplanstoaddmobileversionsofitsHelpsystems.